Mexican tradition rethought

Spanish classes learn history of Cinco de Mayo

Sam Crary

As Latino group leader Carmen Rudin watches students snatch up the remains of the Cinco de Mayo piñata, she comments on what the holiday means to her.

“Cinco de Mayo, for me, is all about eating and celebrating diversity,”  Rudin said.

According to Spanish teacher Kristina Christiansen, May 5 is the celebration of a pivotal battle for sovereignty the Mexican army won against the French in 1862.

Through his Spanish class, freshman Matthew Logman said he learned more about the history of Cinco de Mayo, which surprised him.

“I learned that it is a smaller holiday than I originally thought, and it only is celebrated in Mexico by a small number of people,” Logman said.

To help students celebrate the holiday, the Latino group set up a table outside the cafeteria featuring a piñata for students to break and plenty of mini-sombreros to wear.Cinco de MayoJamie Halper

Freshman Graham Campbell said he thinks celebrating this holiday in class helps show the diversity of the school.

While living in Mexico, Christiansen said she learned that contrary to popular belief, Cinco de Mayo is not a widely celebrated holiday outside of the United States.

“The holiday has been appropriated for the Latin American culture. It is not celebrated as much in Mexico where the festival began. It has been adopted and molded by the Latin American culture (in the United States) to be a celebration of their collective heritage,” Christiansen said.